


The Truth Will Spill Out, Eventually

by belivaird_st



Category: Mrs. America (2020), Mrs. America (FX Hulu), Mrs. America (Miniseries), Mrs. America - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Female Friendship, Friendship, Loss of Trust, Love/Hate, Older Woman/Younger Woman, Strong Female Characters, Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:47:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24313753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belivaird_st/pseuds/belivaird_st
Summary: Phyllis finds out that Alice had been lying to her about seeing Gloria Steinem in Houston.
Relationships: Alice Macray/Phyllis Schlafly
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	The Truth Will Spill Out, Eventually

After their Houston trip, Pamela had become more and more clingy towards Alice Macray and felt the need of them doing everything together. Like the idea of playing rounds of tennis at the community rec center, for instance. Alice was flattered by the young mother’s worship towards her. It made her wonder if she had been the same way with Phyllis Schlafly? How funny life turned out for Alice during the ride back home to Illinois. It made her think deeply about who her actual real friends were, and who weren’t. Phyllis had been the prime example. The main course. Trying not to ruin the afternoon with the adventrous Pamela, Alice forcibly pushed Phyllis Schlafly in the far back of her mind, so she could enjoy hitting a fuzzy green ball over a net with a wooden racket, in a yellow polo shirt and high-waist shorts.

“Oh, look, Fred, there’s two of my girls!” chirped out a familiar, upbeat voice coming from the sidelines.

Alice turned her head to see Fred and Phyllis approaching the double area tennis courts in matching light blue T-shirts, white shoes, and tall shorts. Pamela, who had served, smacked their ball over the divided net almost hitting Alice’s left arm.

“Alice! Pay attention! I almost whacked you!” She scolded. The woman paused to realize her new admirer was not even focused on the game anymore. Following her stare, she saw the Schlaflys, and beamed at the sight of Phyllis.  
“Hey, Phyllis! You’ve come to play some tennis, too?”

“Fred and I, both have, yes,” the anti-era leader responded with a nod. “It’s nice to see you out here, Pamela. Kevin’s got the kids?”

“My mother does,” Pamela corrected her. “It was my idea to play tennis with Alice!”

“Oh, how sweet,” Phyllis chortled, setting her gym bag on the benches with Fred in the middle of doing warm-up stretches. “Maybe if we’re all up for it, we could play in teams!”

“Well, I came to enjoy myself,” Alice clipped, still upset over the woman’s lack of friendship towards her the past couple of months.

“What’s the matter, Alice? Afraid of a little competition?” Fred piped in, stretching out his quads.

Phyllis chuckled along, like a good, headstrong housewife would do for her husband. She waited for Alice’s answer, who was quiet and grew hurt by the mockery.

“We aren’t afraid! You’re on!” Pamela shouted from the other side of the court. She smiled beautifully, looking so energized and confident—the complete opposite what Alice was feeling.

The four of them had played a tiresome, competitive round, making the Schlaflys the winning team by a landslide. Phyllis would often congratulate Fred by praising him and kissing him square on the mouth. Pamela was not a sore loser and wanted to play again. Alice was starting to regret hanging out with her in the first place. In truth, she was not upset with Pamela, but with Phyllis, directly. She was seeing Phyllis Schlafly like she was seeing her for the very first time, and wasn’t liking the outcome so much.

“Better luck next time,” she told Alice, all sweaty and hot, once the two of them finished their game and made their way over towards the drinking fountains. “You look like you could use more practice, Alice dear.”

“Like I said before—I only came to enjoy myself,” Alice shot back, watching the blonde beehive slurp the stream of water, graciously.

Phyllis now wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and stands back up, letting Alice take a turn to drink. Pulling her sweat towel off from her shoulders, she patted her forehead and said, calmly,

“A little birdy told me that you did, in fact, see Gloria Steinem in Houston...”

Alice broke away from the fountain and looked at Phyllis, sharply. 

“Who said that? Rosemary?”

Phyllis chuckled and bopped her head towards the courts where Fred and Pamela started a new round amongst themselves.

“Goddamnit, Pamela,” Alice cursed softly, feeling her chest tighten up. She could barely look at Phyllis in the eye, but spoke with a quiver in her voice, “What does it matter if I saw Gloria or not? You chose _not_ to be there, when I really needed you...”

“Alice, you lied to me,” Phyllis kept speaking so calm, so gentle. “I thought we were friends?”

Alice didn’t miss a beat. Her face filled with so much emotion. 

“I thought we were, too,” she replied, flatly. The look in her eyes could make a mother cry, but Phyllis, however, didn’t appear remorseful or guilty. She simply shrugged it off, like she had been doing from the very beginning.

“If I stay out here any longer, I’ll end up getting heat stroke!” she brayed, draping the towel back around her shoulders. She awkwardly left Alice there, feeling her eyes burning her back. 

Alice began to move, aswell, deciding not to lash at Pamela for spilling the truth of seeing Ms. Gloria Steinem.


End file.
